So there is a 2005 film based on Frank Miller's Sin City novels and it is one hell of a movie.
If you've ever seen it, you'll know that its visual style is VERY different than most films. The film is completely shot in black and white while specific subjects and elements are colorized (such as blood). The reason I want to talk about this film is because of the use (or lack of use) of lighting in the film. We've learned about three point lighting using key, fill, and back lights. We all know how the three work together in order to create a decent looking shot, But!-Sin City is awesome because it almost ignores the fill light aspect and excels visually because of it.
Take this picture for example:
http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/sin_city_2.jpg
(Also, here's the trailer for those interested at what it all looks like in motion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKFLrTYKIXk)
By looking at Bruce Willis' face in the movie still, you can clearly see a hard key light and a strong back light. However, there is little to no fill light. The effect that the lack of fill on the face of this character creates is a heavy shadowing effect that perfectly matches the novel's dark themes and the movie's overall art style. The effect even works for the gentleman in the background of that still. This "two point lighting" goes completely against that standards of lighting and it happens to work out perfectly. The ENTIRE film is a terrific display of how well this works and the darkness really pops because how hard the shadows hit each object.
I think this style/idea is very cool, and very interesting. When thinking about digital video production, and lighting in general, I'm always thinking about how to use lights in order to create certain looks. However, this film DOESN'T use lights in order to create a certain look, and that's a new concept to me that I just wanted to share with all of you.
Yes, we might refer to this lighting style as "chiaroscuro" lighting, or talk about "fast falloff" with regard to the shadows, which in American cinema we can trace to films like "Out of the Past" (Jacques Torneuer), one of the first film noirs to employ this style (though we also see this in in 1920s German Expressionism (Nosferatu, etc.), as well as 17th century painting (Caravaggio, et al.). "Sin City" is a good example of neo-noir. I would argue, however, that it is not a matter of not using lights but a matter of using lights more precisely to achieve a certain aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely fascinated by the (post production) lighting and coloring effects in this movie. The way that the specific colorizing draws your eye around is amazing. I haven't watched it in years, but I imagine I would find many manipulating effects that I would have a greater respect for, and different perspective on now.
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